Minimally invasive surgical techniques have emerged as an alternative to conventional surgical techniques to perform a plurality of surgical procedures. Minimally invasive procedures differ from conventional surgical procedures in that a plurality of devices may be introduced into the body through a small incision. As a result, trauma to the body is greatly reduced, thereby decreasing the recovery time of the patient.
Many conventional surgical procedures have been performed using minimally invasive techniques. One challenge presented when performing a heretofore conventional surgical procedure using a minimally invasive technique is to remotely position and apply sutures to an area of interest. Commonly, a suture will be required to approximate at least two pieces of tissue. In conventional surgical techniques, the surgeon will approximate the tissue pieces by forcing a needle and suture material through various portions of the tissue to be approximated, and tying a knot in the suture material resulting in approximation. In contrast, in minimally invasive surgical techniques the surgeon's access to the approximation site is greatly reduced. Commonly, a surgical device will attach the suture material to the tissue. The surgeon will remotely form a knot in the suture material and advance the knot to the area of interest with a “knot pusher,” thereby approximating the tissue. Thereafter, the knot pusher is removed from the body and a suture cutting device is inserted to cut the surplus suture material.
Several knot pushing devices are known. These devices permit an operator to push suture knots which have been formed extracorporeally towards tissue to be sutured. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,863, issued to Garrison et al., discloses a surgical knot pusher having an elongated body connected to a pushing head. The pushing head engages a portion of suture material containing a knot and is advanced to the area of interest, thereby “throwing” the knot. Once the suture knot is placed the knot pushing device is removed and a cutting implement is introduced into the body and cuts the remaining suture material. The remaining suture material is then removed. The device disclosed therein failed to effectively address the cutting of superfluous suture material, instead requiring the use of a supplemental cutting implement to be precisely positioned proximate the suture knot.
With respect to the aforementioned devices, it is desirable to have a system capable of intracorporeally positioning and applying a suture knot to an area of interest. Additionally, it is desirable to have a knot pushing system wherein the operator may cut and remove surplus suture material using the knot pushing device.